"I feel (that) them mandating makes you feel like you are not doing your job," Catlett said. "I think there are plenty of teacher assistants who don't have the two years but who are qualified to do that job."

As of Jan. 8, 2002, instructional assistants hired at Title I schools must have completed at least two years of higher education, earned an associate's degree, or passed a formal state or local exam testing their ability to help with reading, writing and math.

Current Title I assistants who help with instruction have until January 2006 to meet the standard. Title I schools receive federal money because they enroll high percentages of students from low-income families.

School officials said the bottom line was that the new requirement for teacher assistants signified their importance in helping boost student achievement.

"The role itself is much more complex and requires more training," said Harvey Perkins, assistant superintendent for instruction in Newport News.

"The role, as I see it, is no longer administrative in the classroom but a partner in the teaching and learning process. For that, you need more skills."

In the past decade, he said, a teacher assistant's main duties have moved away from menial tasks like creating materials for bulletin boards to reading with small groups of children, helping students with computer programs and answering questions when the teacher is busy.

But more than half of about 100 teacher assistants at 73 local Title I schools don't meet the new education requirement, data provided this summer from all but two local districts indicate.

That's also true with teacher assistants in all schools across the local districts.

More than half the 1,560 teacher assistants in schools across 13 local districts lack two years of college or an associate's degree, a Daily Press survey of local school systems found. But teacher assistants who don't work at Title I schools fall outside the purview of the education requirement.

Some people argue that teachers can prepare assistants for their work, but others think that the new rule is necessary to prove that assistants are equipped to help students perform better. It makes sense to them to raise the bar for teacher assistants because the general federal act demands tougher standards in various ways.

Using federal aid as leverage, the No Child Left Behind Act calls for highly qualified teachers, annual testing, consequences for certain failing schools, and closing the achievement gap between low-income and minority students and their peers.

Most local teacher assistants have at least a high school diploma or equivalent because it's required by the school districts. Virginia school systems set their own education requirements for instructional assistants.

The new federal act now requires that Title I teacher assistants have earned at least a high school diploma or equivalent, regardless of their hiring date.

Teacher assistants vary a great deal, in terms of education, family and economic status, local school officials said. But they are typically women who work primarily in elementary schools.

For those who need to meet the new federal standard, it could be a challenge.

"For most of them, it would be a financial burden to say you have to get two years of college," Perkins said. "That's going to be a stressful situation."

Some school districts -- such as Newport News, Surry and Mathews -- are considering partnerships with local colleges to help instructional assistants get the education that they need. That could save them from paying college costs.

Their wages are pitiful, said Leigh Quick, director of instruction and personnel in New Kent County's school district. Starting pay locally ranges from about $7,000 to $12,000 annually.

Salary is also a concern to school officials because once assistants boost their credentials, they might leave for other better-paying jobs.

"I would expect there would be pressure on us to improve salaries for teacher assistants," Gloucester Superintendent J. Larry Hoover said.

Catlett, who meets the education requirement, said she stayed at her $11,000-a-year job because she loved it. She started at $9,400.

"I never have to grow up when I'm with children," she said.

"It's fun. You get in there, and you feel like you are young. And you are being vital to the community."

A single mother raising three children, Catlett worked two other jobs in the summer for additional money to support her family. She feels fortunate that she meets the federal standards now.

"Having to go back to school would definitely take away family time," she said. "That's very important to me. All the extra time I do have, I try to spend with them."